Dining with Desert Details
Hand-Carved Ceramic Tile Backsplash
Dining with Desert Details is a large-scale, hand-crafted ceramic tile mural installed as a kitchen backsplash in Tucson, Arizona. Measuring 105 inches wide by 22 inches tall, the piece is composed of more than 85 individually carved relief tiles, each featuring its own imagery. Together, the tiles form a layered, immersive celebration of Sonoran Desert life, bringing the textures and rhythms of the desert into a daily, domestic space.
Rendered in a mid-century modern Scandinavian folk–inspired style, the imagery moves fluidly between close observation and expansive landscape. Some tiles focus on detailed patterns and textures found in desert plants, animals, and cultural motifs, while others depict broader desert scenes—mountain ranges, open plains, a bright sun, and monsoon rains moving across the land. Native wildlife appears throughout the composition, including coati, snake, bighorn sheep, bobcat, cardinal, pygmy owl, rabbit, javelina family, wolf, Gila monster, roadrunner, groundhog, desert tortoise, and horned toad, interwoven with blooming desert flora.
Each tile was carved by hand as a relief sculpture, allowing depth and surface texture to play a central role in the work. The tiles are finished with a restrained palette of white and clear glaze, intentionally allowing the natural color and texture of the clay to remain visible. This approach creates subtle contrast between tiles while emphasizing the carved forms. As light shifts throughout the day, shadows settle into the recesses of the relief, revealing fine details and adding visual movement across the surface.
Installed in a kitchen, Dining with Desert Details transforms a functional backsplash into a tactile landscape—one that invites close looking and daily interaction. The piece reflects an interest in bringing the desert into the home, honoring the Sonoran environment through craft, material, and quiet narrative woven into everyday life.
